INCUBATING AND HATCHING YOUR OWN EGGS

There are several reasons to incubate and hatch poultry eggs artificially. One is to increase or maintain your own flock. In this case and understanding of poultry genetics will be helpful in selecting parents for mating. Another reason is as a classroom experience for K-12 students. 'Embryology in the classroom' is a popular activity and can be adapted for a wide variety of science, and non-science, topics.

Guinea fowl

TROUBLE SHOOTING FAILURES WITH EGG INCUBATION

It is unlikely that you will have 100% of your eggs hatch. If you get particularly low hatchability it is important to breakout the eggs that did not hatch to try and figure out what the problem was and make corrections for the next hatch.

It is also a good management practice to candle the eggs after the first week of incubation and remove any infertile or dead embryos.

INCUBATORS

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